Wed 12 Apr 2006

Happily, although the Festival is so far celebrating record sales very few shows are sold out. Audiences are booking very widely, responding to the broad range of events within the Festival and within each of the artforms.

If you have missed out on tickets to events you were hoping to see, then there is still the chance to secure Turn Up and Try It tickets which are released only one hour before the performance at the venue all priced £10 and limited to two per customer.

The first day of public booking for the 2006 Edinburgh International Festival saw a record amount taken at the box office, in excess of £200,000.

This fantastic public response to the programme in a very special year for the Festival, celebrating both the 60th Festival and Brian McMaster’s fifteen and final Festival as Director, saw the Festival take more in one day than ever before.

Around 400 people turned up in person at The Hub to buy tickets on opening day, queuing from 6.30am. And although the wait was long for many of them there was a great sense of occasion and camaraderie, sharing Festival top tips and coffee and bacon rolls in Cafe Hub while waiting their turn.

The Festival website now allows customers to choose the very seat they want to sit in, a very popular development which has boosted online booking, currently around 50% of all sales.